Publications
Partners
The public-participation process for the hotly debated Franschhoek cable car or “skytram”, as it will be called, is officially underway and affected parties have until 6 March to comment.
During a jam-packed public-participation meeting on 15 February in Franschhoek, a draft version of the plan was available to viewers, those in favour of and against the project.
The Skytram is proposed to start at Haute Cabrière and follow a 1 km cable line up the valley to the Mount Rochelle Nature Reserve.
According to Alwyn Laubscher, of Alwyn Laubscher & Asssociates, project manager of the cable car project, construction is planned to start at the beginning of 2025 with the first visitors welcomed at the end of 2026.
“Throughout the years we [the various teams behind the Skytram project] looked at several options, but decided on Haute Cabrière,” Laubscher said, as the cable only runs through Mont Marte Guest Farm and minimises the amount of landowner permission needed for the project to commence.
Skytram activities
According to Laubscher the vision of the project’s shareholders, which include a South African and a Swiss, is different from the Table Mountain Cable Car, as it will provide visitors with an array of outings to choose from, encouraging longer stays atop the destination of the cable car.
The lower station at Haute Cabrière will include the existing offerings as well as new proposed walkways around a dam, a new deli, ablutions and parking, while the upper station at Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve will include wine tasting, a restaurant, souvenir shop, paragliding launching area, walkways and existing hiking routes.
As part of the project’s social responsibility “local labour should be used wherever possible,” according to the draft version of the plan, composed by Doug Jeffery Environmental Consultants.
Further community upliftment includes an annual 2% of ticket sales, which will be donated to a community-upliftment project in Franschhoek and a further R400 000 will go towards annual conservation fees.
Impact assessment
An impact assessment was included in the draft version, outlining the possible impacts the cable car project would have on the environment as well as the local community.
Some of the important findings include:
- Disturbances to Fynbos vegetation and predatory birds, such as Verreau’x Eagle, and insects such as butterflies. However, according to the draft the Skytram is “unlikely to generate significant negative impacts” on vegetation, birds or insects. Mitigation measures include bird-deterrent markers, minimal artificial lights at night for insects, and minimal clearing of natural vegetation among others.
- Noise and dust disturbances as construction will take place. Mitigation measures include operating between working hours as well as “wetting of internal gravel roads on a regular basis and ensuring that vehicles used to transport sand and building materials are fitted with tarpaulins or covers” to minimise dust.
- Socio-economic impacts will include employing skilled and unskilled labour from other parts of the country instead of locally, in this way not adding to local job creation. To mitigate this, a “locals first” policy will be adopted for semi- and low-skilled jobs. This measure will also prevent conflicts between locals and newcomers, including expats, working at the cable car.
- An uptake in traffic, as tourists will visit the cable car is projected. This, however, will be circumvented by road upgrades along the R45, certain parking rules, such as buses parked at a separate parking.
- Wildfires also poses a risk to the project, pre- and post-construction. To mitigate this wildfire awareness should be undertaken, along with collaborating with local fire fighting organisations.
Conflict
Although the The Franschhoek Cableway Company argues that the project will be economically advantageous to the area, a large community is unhappy about this new development and intended to make their objections known at the recent public participation meeting.
According to Sylvia Bell from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) “only the rich” will benefit from the project as it is a tourist attraction targeted at those who earn more than struggling day labourers who also live in Franschhoek, and who will argue it has become a gentrified town.
Jeanne Roux, another protester who made her voice known outside the meeting, said the community was never informed of the project, and has only done so as a pre-requisite through the public-participation process.
“Leave the mountains as they are,” Roux said, signaling that the increased visitation on the Franschhoek mountains will only disturb the tranquility of small-town life and hinder the fauna and flaura.
Many residents also took to social media, and in particular the Facebook page “What’s On In Franschhoek!”, who set up a poll in which more than a 900 people voted against the project and more than 300 voted in favour, explaining that it would add to job creation. Since the publication of the article, disadvantageous opinions about the skytram has been deleted on the group.
A recent Facebook group called “Stop the Franschoek Skytram” has also been started with more than 400 members since its establishment on 19 January.
For more information on the Franschoek Skytram project and the public participation process, visit Doug Jeffery Environmental Consultants.
